How did Romans come to incorporate crocodiles into displays within the Roman games? A look at the myths, fear and artistic depictions of crocodiles reveals a Roman fascination with these fearsome creatures--and with the majesty of ancient Egypt. Sarah E. BondThe Roman Republic saw an unprecedented period of expansion for the Roman empire with many lands being acquired and subjugated. Sarah E. BondThose who put on Roman games and paid Egyptian Crocodile hunters along the Nile for capturing them fed on the hunger of a Roman audience to see the fantastical beasts at the edges of the newly-acquired bounds of the Roman empire. The Egypto-mania that swept through the Roman empire in the late Republic and early Empire was real and manifest itself not only in the art of the period, but in the animals that were selected to appear in the Roman games.

Source: Forbes June 12, 2017 13:57 UTC